Selected Writings of Jonathan Edwards

by Jonathan Edwards, Harold P. Simonson (Editor)

Through the years Jonathan Edwards' place in American intellectual history has remained secure. As a theologian, he stands alone; as a philosopher his peers include only Emerson and William James. As one whose insights into the human condition penetrate to the deepest levels where literary artists do their work, only the likes of Hawthorne, Melville, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and William Faulkner share his company. As relevant in our day as in his, the essays and sermons included here demonstrate Edwards far-ranging perspectives in theology, ethics, psychology, and aesthetics. As we have begun to question assumptions about the natural goodness and reasonableness of all individuals, Edwards' inter- pretation of Christian truths speaks more tellingly to us than ever before. His kind of theology is heard anew in American novels, plays, and poems; the re- counting of humankind's innocence and subsequent disaster, our beginning and end, provides the awesome background to what we read in newspaper headlines today. Modern readers of Edwards works will realize that his timeless vision indeed corroborates our own.

Genres: Theology

194 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1970

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.

The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.

In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.

Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.

Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.

Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).

Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.

Reviews

[Larry Wegman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of Edwards' essays and sermons, with an excellent introduction by Simonson, which helped me to understand the historical context (including Arminianism twisted in ways I'd never knew could happen) in which Edwards wrote. He still doesn't convince me to be a Calvinist, in fact, I think a couple of his statements argue against it. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" (included) is as powerful as ever. Somewhat difficult to read because of some of the 18th century language.

[Jaek Wraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently just a selection of his most especially Calvinist preaching and writing (not to suggest that isn't truly part of his theology-- it obviously is, as this selection shows). Still some enlightening and inspiring thoughts on our relation to God.